Apparatus for the designing of buildings



Jan. 22, 1935. T, H. REEVES APPARATUS FOR THE DESIGNING OF BUILDINGSFiledNov. 5, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR 73 H. Beef/e5 ATTORNEY$Jan. 22, 1935. T. H, REEVES 1,938,461

APPARATUS FOR THE DESIGNING 0F BUILDINGS Filed Nov. 5, 1951 sSheets-Sheet 2 39- 5&6

I lag/WV ATTORNEY! Jan. 22, 1935. H REEVES APPARATUS FOR THE DESIGNING0F BUILDINGS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 5. 1931 INVENTOR 77H. Baez/v.5

ATTORN EY.

. nary house floor plan. To facilitate this laying Patented Jan. 22,1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Thomas H. Reeves, Birmingham, Ala.Application November 5, 1931, Serial No. 573,134

3 Claims. (01. 35-16) My invention relates to a new and improved todefine. My invention contemplates a variety apparatus for simplifyingand perfecting the of means which may be used to define the wallsdesigning of buildings, and, while not specifically and interiorsubdivisions of the proposed buildlimited thereto, is principallyconcerned with ing, so long as thereby I secure in effect a full 5perfecting a means for the designing of residences sized floor plansubdivided by partitioning of only 5 or homes whereby a prospectivebuilder maybe sufficient height to enable the room effect to be enabledto visualize the projected building in adcorrectly visualized. vance ofits erection and to adjust the design to My invention furthercontemplates these fit his immediate and particular needs. dummy unitsin varying lengths and with special Heretofore, all buildings andparticularly resiunits adapted to indicate the position of win- 10dences have been built in accordance with plans dows and doors, therebypermitting the openings prepared by architects and submitted to theprosin a room to be designated. pective builder. Very few people areskilled in My invention further contemplates providing the reading ofblue prints and even the few that light portable full size dummyrepresentations of are so skilled can hardly visualize and apprehendarticles of furniture which may be placed within 15 the exact' 'resultin designing or arrangement the confines of the various rooms defined bythe which will be obtained in the finished building. dummy partitionsand thus conveyintrue propor- As a result, nearly all residence buildersare subtion the setting of these articles as it may be dejected toexpensive and troublesome changes in sired to place them in the room andthereby to plans and specifications and yet, even while some permit theredesigning of the room where neces- 20 changes can still be made withinthe limits of sary to the better accommodate such articles of reasonableexpense, it is true that in a majority furniture. of times it only afterthe house is built and My invention further contemplates providingbeyond the.possibility of change that the disthe dummy partitionsections with means to interappointing features in the design andarrangelook their abutting ends so that they can be quick- 25 mentbecome apparent. Generally this occurs ly set up and will be rigidlyheld in place during when the home builder moves in and seeks to artheinspection and rearrangement of the particurange his furniture in thevarious rooms. Then lar floor plan or building design under conit isfound that one room is too large, another too sideration.

small, that the openi s, both W n ow a d doo My invention furthercomprises the novel de- 30 are ineptly placed so that the furniture mustbe tails of construction for practicing the invention, disposed where itis not convenient or sightly, or which will be hereinafter moreparticularly depart thereof must be entirely eliminated. scribed andwhich will be better understood by I have conce v that. if any apparatuscould be reference to the accompanying drawings which devised that wouldbe effective to overcome those form a part of t specification, and in 35difiiculties for the ordinary non-technical builder, 1 is plan view of afloor section t it m st be d s d to Present the true proportion a designof a building reproduced thereon by my 0f the t tu to be erected, as itis y With improved dummy'partitions which are shown in reference to trueproportions that the average plan View with the arrangement f dummy 40Person in a practicable manner understand articles of furniture shown indotted lines. 40

the house design and visualize the furniture arrangement. To this end Ihave conceived the idea of providing a suitable floor space, ample forthe laying out thereon in full size of any ordi- Fig. 2 is a fragmentalview in perspective showing a corner of one of the rooms illustrated inFig. 1 with dummy articles of furniture arranged therein. 7 w

out the floor may be marked into foot Squares so Figs. 3 and 4 are sideand end views of a standthat reading from the architecvs drawing it willard dummy wall partition section, the view in elebe a comparativelysimple matter to reproduce vatlfm bemg broken in full size on this floorspace the outline of the Flgs- 5 and 6 are corresponfimg VIEWS abuilding walls and partitions. dummy wall section for use adJacent to adoor 50 I provide suitable portable dummy wall partiop i tions, made oflight material, so that they may be lil 7 d 8 ar p and clevational views0 readily set up and which are of substantial height a right angleCorner Wall section.

so as to give a fairly accurate conception of the Fi 9 and 10 aresimilar views of a T-wall proportions of the rooms which they may beused Section- I 55 Figs. 11 and 12 are similar views of a windowsection.

Fig. 13 is a plan view of Fig. 11.

Figs. 14 and 15 are plan and elevational views of the dummy elementsdefining a door opening.

Fig. 16 is a view taken on the line XVIXVI of Fig. 3 showing the dummyend connections separated.

Fig. 17 is a similar view showing the dummy end sections connected.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated, I show a floor 20, whichmay be of any desired material and which is preferably divided by in-'tersecting lines spaced on foot centers, so that it will be easy tomeasure ofi distances and to lay out straight lines thereon. Itisgenerally contemplated that such a floor will be provided for the use ofcustomers of the architect, builder or supply house, to the end that byemploying the mechanism which will now be described, various fioor'plans of buildings and-particularly of dwellings can be set up on thisfloor according to their actual dimensions. I

The mechanism employed for carrying my invention into effect comprises aseries of standard dummy wall partition units 21, one of which is moreclearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, and is made up with asubstantially wide bottom board 22 shaped along its wide edgesto givethe effect of a base shoe 23 and having mortised therein the base boards24, which are rabbeted -on their inner faces to receive the lightcomposition or wood wall boards 25 which at their tops are connected toa top board 26.

Each unit is provided with suitable end walls formed by studs 27, onestud having a groove 28 and the other a complemental rib 29.Intermediate studs are used in long wall units. The rib hasanchored-therein and projecting therefrom eye bolts 30 and the grooveshave slots 31 adapted.

to receive these eye bolts. The top board is provided near each end witha hole 32 adapted to receive a vertical rod 33 which passes down throughthe eye bolts and interlocks the end sections together as shown moreclearly in Fig. 17. These eye bolts are adjustable by being screwed intoa threaded opening in an anchor plate 34 connected to the inside of theend wall 2'7.

The dummy wall sections thus provided are approximately three feet inheight, it being important that this height be just sufiicient to enableone, viewing an enclosure formed thereby, to obtain a reasonablyaccurate conception of the proportions of the finished room. It is-wellknown that rooms do not assume their correct proportions to unskilled orinexperienced observers until the partition walls defining them are setup, and it is therefore obvious that some sacrifice of completepresentment of the building design must be waived in the interest ofeconomically producing dummy partition units which will be light enoughto be easily handled and small enough 'to be economically produced. Itis thought that ap-. proximately three feet or four feet in height, willbe suflicient for the purposes contemplated and it will be understoodthat in making up the standard partition units described material whichis light is employed. The dummy unit bottom and base is preferably ofheavy wood while the body is of light wooden or composition, boards.

Without describing indetail the various dummy sections that would beprovided, it seems suflicient to say that in Fig. '1, I show a dummysection difiering from Fig. 3 only in providing the angled wall unit 35and in Fig. 9 is shown a T-shaped unit 36. It will also be understoodthat the length of the standard units 21 will be varied so that it willbe feasible, with reasonable accuracy, to reproduce the exact dimensionsof each room being exemplified.

In Figs. 11 and 12, I show what I term a dummy window unit 3'7 whichcomprises a lower wall section interlocked with the standard wall units21 and adapted to receive a window unit 38, shaped to slip fit over thetop 26 and over the adjacent ends of the units 25 so as to hold thiswindow section standing substantially above the top level of thestandard wall sections. whereby to emphasize the location of the windowopening.

In Figs. 14 and 15, I show the wall sections 39 for a door opening,these sections having post members 40 and one of these members carryinga hinged door board 41 which is adjustable as to length to suit the dooropening and the hinge 42 of which is reversible to the swing of the doorand the room into which it opens.

Having before one a floor plan, such as appears in Fig. 1, to practicemy invention the standard and special dummy wall unit sections areselected as required and the rooms are laid out starting from anydesired point and fol-' lowing thedimensions of the architect's drawingsor developing the layout without plans. When the rooms have thus beendefined with their window'and door openings in position, dummy furnituremay also be provided and installed in the various rooms so that theirproportions can be understood, the space provided for them relative tothe window and door openings checked and modified where necessary, andthe whole house thus tested by actual experience until the properreadjustments of partitions and openings are finally agreed uponaccording to the pleasure and for the greatest convenience of the housebuilder. Thereupon the architect can readily correct his plans and theerection of the building can proceed with the least probability ofalteration and change in plans and therefore with the consequentreduction of building expense.

It will of course be understood that the dummy sections which have beendescribed are those which I have built and by trial have found aresuited to the purposes'stated, but others may modify this manner offorming the representation of the building walls and partitions withoutdeparting from the essential features of my invention for which I seekprotection and which are pointed out in the appending claims.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof variouschanges and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon as are imposed by the prior art oras are specificallyset forth in the appended claims. Y

2. As an article of manufacture, a representation 01 the floor plan of abuilding layout in full size as to length and comprising a plurality ofdummy elements representative of a vertical section oi the lower portion0! a wall partition. means asociated with said elements to representdoors and windows of the building, said sections being readily movableabout over their support. and means to interlock the sections inassembled position to correspond to the floor plan 0! the building, saidsections each having suflicient height when assembled to enable theproportions of the proposed dwelling to be apprehended and checked inadvance of its permanent erection.

3. In an apparatus for producin by dummy representation, the wall andpartition arrangement 0! a propom building, in combination, a floorample in size to receive a full size layout of the floor plan to berepresented and havin its surface marked by intersecting lines intosquares of unit area, and means representative of but having only partof the height of the walls and partitions of the proposed building whichare assembled in upright position on said floor so as to reproducethereon the arrangement of such building's walls and partitions in fulllength but only in partial height.

THOMAS H. REEVES.

